[ftgjr]

I just received my 8130 the other day. I was strongly considering the 8830 but found that the keys were to small for my fingers. I played with the 8830 at the Sprint store for quite a while and kept hitting the adjacent keys to the one I was trying to hit. I tried many times but couldn't use that keyboard. I was able to use the keyboard on the 8703 much better. I went with the Pearl because of the features and size. I am also getting good with the suretype.

[yogi]

i hope you are happy with your purchase.

[grim64131]

I liked both of the phones, I have a 8130 and love it, you get use to the key pad very quickly, dont take the option of them transfering over your address book for you, it gives you a great learning experience on using the keypad. You can always turn the suretype off if you dont like it. The 8830 is awesome also, the only reason I went with the 8130 was the size and it was $50 cheaper

[Dustin_D]

My parents haven't decided whether or not they are switching to AT&T yet, so I haven't had a chance to buy the phone.

I worked out a deal that if my parents buy me the phone, I will pay for the Data Plan, because my parents don't want to pay for it because they don't think I need the internet and e-mail on a phone.

I think I am still going for the 8830, but I will be sure to update if I get either the 8830 or the Pearl.

I wish the Curve was available, because both the 88 and the 81 have hard to use keypads .

[wpwoodjr#AC]

I got the 8830 before getting the Pearl. I really disliked the lighting on the keyboard of the 8830, its a blue color and very hard to see against the silver keys. I thought I wouldn't like the Pearl because of the Suretype but I love it, the size is wonderful too.

[corymcnutt]

Ya, I agree. My friend has the 8830WE and those Blue cut-outs for the letters a great looking, but not very practical. The 8130 lights up BRIGHT and is easy to see. Also, I have fat fingers and the keys are actually a little larger on the 8130; they look deceptively small because of the two colors and bumps on the keys...they had to make the 8830's smaller to cram more in the space. And I'm sorry, but small does not equate to "girly" - what it means is that it fits easy in a shirt pocket instead of wearing it on your hip like a gun and holster...my friends 8830 feels like a brick.

[greystealth]

I recently just bought an 8130 from Verizon Wireless. I previously had an 8703e. I am actually a VZW technical support employee so I get to play around a lot with these devices. Straight forward, the 8130 is a better device overall than the 8830. Since the 8830 came out it had a lot of small bugs, however most have been taken care of with the MR1 update. I have replaced so many 8830's for people for issues such as: lost trackball, bad usb port, not charging, device crashing, bad microphone, certain keys quit working. Also i would like to add that the housing on the 8830 seems very low quality, the sides tend to creak and rattle all the time. I had heard many complain that the sound quality of the microphone is not the best and the vibration on the device can greatly be improved.

The 8130 has so far been a solid phone for verizon wireless and myself as a user. It just works! Battery is great, call quality is great, sometimes im in noisy conditions and people cant even tell on the other end. The phone vibrates VERY hard compared to the 8830 so you def feel it. Data works great, MMS, SMS, internet. Sure Type is a bit annoying sometimes, but like others have said, 95% of the time I can type a sentence probably faster than i would with a standard querty. The device is very compact so you don't feel like you are hauling around a brick. Verizon Wireless just released a new update as well which helps alot with only 1 issue the device has had with memory. My recommendation would be the Pearl, you can't go wrong with it and im sure you'll will be free of headaches in the long run.